Two new motions were filed in federal district court on Friday, firstly to postpone the trial set to begin on 16 June and secondly to seek immediate appeal over the decision made by judge Gary Klausner last week. The 16 June trail refers to players' case for unfair treatment in travel, housing and medical support, something the judge allowed to go to court.

The ruling came as a blow to the USWNT, who are trying to prove that their federation has paid them less than their male counterparts solely based on their gender.

The court's verdict (via the BBC) said: "The women's team has been paid more on both a cumulative and an average per-game basis than the men's team over the class period."

Since the decision, a spokeswoman for the USWNT, Molly Levinson, confirmed an appeal was lodged in response.

"Equal pay means paying women players the same rate for winning a game as men get paid," she said. "The argument that women are paid enough if they make close to the same amount as men while winning more than twice as often is not equal pay."

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The view of the USWNT has garnered huge response, with one of the key arguments in their defence being the significantly more successful achievements of the women's team over the men's team. The United States' team won the Women's World Cup last summer to secure a fourth title in total, which has been added to with five Olympic gold medals.

On the other hand, the men's side have never finished higher than third place in a World Cup competition - which they managed in the inaugural 1930 edition - with a quarter-final spot in 2002 being their best since.